The Water Body Refinement Adept 8 The Water Fortress

The Thornfield Adept Family was ranked 233rd in Swania, among all adept families and clans. In the Phuinem Kingdom, it was ranked 7th. In the past, it used to be ranked in the top 50 of Swania, but with the loss of their only adept, it fell from its pedestal. The evaluation was done by the respected and unfathomable Silver Order, a group of merchants who also happened to shelter the one and only third grade adept existing on Swania, continent where the Phuinem Kingdom was located.

Despite the poor evaluation, the Thornfield Family was recovering and strengthening itself, slowly but surely climbing ranks once again.

There were many reasons as to how, or why.

The main one was their Water Fortress, a monumental castle with towers, walls and foundations made of Ironcloud metal, and reinforced with fine Watercloud gems. Although it was wasteful to do so, its walls were glowing in a mysterious blue light, and any attack below adept level would be nullified, while adept-level attack would be absorbed. Although there was a limit, it was more than enough to withstand the frontal a.s.sault of several adepts.

The Thornfield family lacked adept powerhouses, but it still had trump cards. The Water Fortress enabled the family members to grow in a safe haven, where elemental particles were highly concentrated, without any fear of outsiders' attacks. Moreover, there was a secret that only elders from the main family branch knew.

In the depth of the Water Fortress, there was an altar which could be used to summon an adept-level elemental. Although the price would be costly, the Thornfield family possessed large amount of Watercloud gems, and if used as an offering, the adept-level elemental would follow their orders.

Last but not least, the family's bloodline was rich, and produced many water-element talents in the main family branch, but in the secondary branches as well.

Adept-level guardian, impenetrable fortress, bloodline…These factors made any enemy reluctant to engage in a war against this once-glorious family.

Yet, the dices weren't in anyone's hands anymore. The Huntingwood Family was now in dire conditions. Why would they have the b.a.l.l.s to do such a thing?

These questions could only be left unanswered. Drodosis preferred to let the adults worry about it. And as a member of the main branch, he knew for one, that his family was not as weak as it looked like from the outside.

As Drodosis returned home…he was once again mesmerized by the divine sight of the gigantic waterfall, transparent yet glowing in a low blue light. The buildings seemed ancient, yet in pristine condition, if not even better than when they were originally built. The renovations, repairs, and improvement over centuries reinforced everything, making this castle the centre of a gorgeous landscape, respected by all, feared by all, envied by all. Moreover, after centuries of being reinforced by elemental particles, the ironcloud metals improved in quality.

Returning to his old room, he felt glad. Even though he wasn't a kid anymore, he always cherished the place where he spent most of his childhood in isolation. His room was a safe place, it was his 'home'.

Feeling nostalgic for a while, he lost himself in thoughts, but he was quickly awakened by a low and clear voice. It was his cousin Fang. Just like him, he had green eyes and dark hair, but he lacked the muscular physique Drodosis possessed and couldn't hide. Moreover, his eyes didn't stand out, unlike Drodosis' left eye which was glowing in the darkness.

'I should maybe consider buying an eye patch…It's kind of eye-catching.' (A/N: woops, a wordplay)

"Hi, cousin Drodosis", the 15-years-old Fang whispered, "I hope your travel was not too exhausting."

"Hi, Fang. It's been a long time", Drodosis answered. A few seconds later, data appeared in front of him.

[Beep! Age: 15

Strength: 3 Agility: 2 Physique: 3 Spirit: 4 Mana: 12 Magic Power: 4.

Perks: ø

Skills: (?)]

These attributes were…low! Too low! It was even worse than Drodosis before he got his biochip! And the man was 15-years-old! Once hailed as a genius, Fang had been the centre of attention for years.

For some reasons, he ran into a bottleneck, which he never overcame.

"How have you been in those past years?", Drodosis suddenly asked, as if he wanted to escape the awkward silence and the frustrated glare of his cousin.

"Haha! Why do you even bother asking me? I am just useless…I just wanted to apologize to you about my behaviour back in time. It wasn't fair to you. It seems you have become much stronger in the past few years. Grandfather lost interest in me, saying I was struck by a Frost disease. Only an adept would be able to help me breakthrough, and there is nothing to do about it. You know what it means? I will stay a mortal for my whole life! A mortal! Despite the fact that I have huge talent!", he said with tears in his voice.

Drodosis truly felt sorry for his cousin, despite the numerous fights they had back in time.

Drodosis wasn't as talented as his cousin, but he was chosen to go to the Ivory Tower, something his cousin never acknowledged or accepted. They sparred often, and maybe he was the child he spent the most time with in his childhood. However, here he was. The proud genius had fallen so low that he was on the verge of crying.

"You're stupid…", Drodosis said.

"What? Do you…", Fang tried to talk back but shut up after acknowledging the difference in their status.

Hierarchy was important, especially in the Thornfield family. Their ancestors were military mage, after all, so the traditions were pa.s.sed down. To acolytes, mortals were slaves, just like servants were…well…slaves to mortals.

"Listen, I had my share of trouble back there. I almost died...not once, not twice…but dozens of times", Drodosis said in a clear yet angered tone, remembering the difficult missions of patrolling and the mutated rat ambushes, "But I survived, and I worked hard. For quite a bit of time, I was stuck in a bottleneck. Did I give up? No. Look at me, you can guess from my body and my ripped muscles how hard I worked to get to this point. Now, look at yourself. What do you see?

Don't blame yourself for what you weren't gifted. Blame yourself for opportunities you failed to grasp."

This was a moral speech, which Drodosis found quite hypocritical himself.

However, he knew that it was envy and frustration which led him to the point he was today. Even before he got to earn his biochip, he worked harder than anyone. Why? Because he was frustrated. This speech was not supposed to make his cousin Fang feel better about his bottleneck.

Drodosis wanted to awaken the flame of fighting spirit in his cousin, he wanted him to work hard, and surpa.s.s the odds.

"Knights are not necessarily weaker than acolytes, remember that", Drodosis left a hint to his cousin. Whether he would understand it or not…it was up to him. However, seeing the intelligent and humiliated stare his cousin was showing him, Drodosis was confident.

'His pride was wounded, but he understood my point. Good!'

From a distance, two elders who were eavesdropping were shocked.

"Seems like the younger generations are meant to surpa.s.s the older ones haha!", an elder with a weird blue beard broke the silence.

He was nicknamed Blue Beard, and unlike other acolytes, he was not walking the path of Water element mastery, instead choosing to focus on alchemy. Blue Beard was the healer of the family, respected and a fine strategist.

"Indeed, I'm proud of the kid. His father is still stuck with this d.a.m.n mission, huh? It's a pity, he would have been so proud.", the other elder answered. It was an old man, probably as old as one can possibly get. Yet, this man still had decades of lifespan before him. He was an intermediate acolyte, and he focused on the path of Water Element Mastery.

He controlled the library, and cherished it like a child. Seeing the curious kid turn into a fine teenager, he couldn't help but feel proud of Drodosis, "Did you see his weapon? I bet it's enchanted. We should reward him for his achievements, don't you think? Especially in those hard times, it would be a pity if he suddenly lost his feelings of belonging to the family."

"I agree, Gale", Blue beard answered, as an idea traversed his brain, "how about we give him the Grand Knight Breathing Method? It's a bit obsolete, but you can see that he became a knight. Grand Knight Breathing methods are so rare that even royalty often has only one, and one of poor quality. This is not the time to be stingy."

"You mean, the last research of our ancestor? It's well known that it is incomplete. Our ancestor died before finis.h.i.+ng it", Gale answered, "But even incomplete, it's better than nothing."

Drodosis whose perception had greatly improved since he broke through the Elite Knight realm, couldn't help but hear the eavesdropping elders. Walking towards them, he rea.s.sured them, "I would be more than just glad to take a look at it, since you were so kind as to propose".

The elders were surprised, and couldn't help but feel cheated, seeing the overjoyed and grinning face of their juniors.

A few minutes later, Drodosis received the almost holy parchment.

[Beep! Grand Knight Breathing Technique has been successfully scanned. Half of the information is coded, and some pieces are lacking.]

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'Can you a.n.a.lyse it and fill in the blanks?'

[Beep! Negative, the information is too mystical and unscientific.]

'How much evolution points would it cost?'

[Beep! 120 points to learn it. However, the information must be decoded first, which will take one or two months.]

Drodosis looked at his status, and found out that the past 3 weeks he spent travelling with his aunt only earned him 20 evolution points, which means he only had 28 points in total. He was far from acquiring 92 evolution points!

"Can I take a look in the library, please?"

"Of course, go on. It's open to all acolytes!", Elder Gale answered.

While the library was nowhere near as complete as the one from the Ivory Tower, there were some priceless books with restricted knowledge which Drodosis never heard about.

After isolating himself for a few hours, he tidied up his mess, before returning to the hall. He was happy. After meditating and absorbing this knowledge, he would become much more erudite than before!

While Drodosis continued to mess around and fulfil the numerous desires he couldn't satisfy back in the tower, a group of elders in the Thornfield mansion were discussing.

"I returned home.", Ice Elder said. She was Aunt Lily, but her kind eyes were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was pair of glaring eyes, unleas.h.i.+ng killing intent.

In the same room, there were three other elders: Supreme Elder Water Dragon, Elder Hugo, and Hubert, the only knight in the room. However, his internal energy was even more refined than that of Drodosis, it was radiating with strength. He was a peak knight. The four of them were the four strongest powerhouses of the family. And they were sitting around a square table, with a strange map in front of them.

"We discovered a new resource point in my county…the third resource point", Hubert said in a low voice, "Three resource points would make any adept family greedy about my territory. They must have gotten word of it somehow."

"They maybe used a divination adept", Elder Water Dragon said, "But what matters is that they know about it. The resource point is actually very enticing. There are magic crystals veins, which means our financial shortage will be resolved without having to sell the slightest ounce of ironcloud metal, or Watercloud gem."

"How strong are our enemies. I can't believe they initiated a war of this scale with just a pseudo-adept and a few unskilled and untrained acolytes. There must be more than just a Huntingwood family", Lily said.

"Indeed, we have accurate sources that they are supported by 8 n.o.ble families, independent but strong. Our enemies are an alliance of n.o.bles who strengthened themselves in silence. The problem is their numbers. The Chase Barony, the Gloom Barony, the Kazimuth County and several other viscounts joined the Huntingwood family. There are about 20 elite knights in their ranks, 1 Peak knight, and…a grand knight as well, along with more than 500 knights and 15 000 veteran soldiers, in addition to Huntingwood's 160 acolytes. I heard that the Chase Barony also possesses an heir called Reynold who can wield magic, as well as three other intermediate acolytes", Hubert said.

Shock. Everyone was shocked. Mortals dared to raise their hands and form an alliance in order to take down an adept family! They must have underestimated the Thornfield family! Yet, a grand knight was as strong as an adept. Such threat couldn't be taken lightly.

"How much time will this war last?", Hugo asked.

"Who knows? Months? Years? For sure, there won't be any frontal attacks. It would be detrimental to both parties. They will form small squads, skirmishes and plunder rural villages, one after the other, while we will defend, or maybe we will invade them first. Anyway, there will never be more than a handful of enemies to kill in the same spot. Since they have the numerical advantage, it will be tough", Water Dragon said, lost in thought, his mind probably remembering painful memories.

Wars were scary. But they were also enticing. Should they win, the Thornfield family would rise, earning money and fame, rising once again to glorious horizon. However, it was as easy to rise as it was to fall. Should they lose, their water fortress would be seized, and the end of the Thornfield family would be near.

In this world, nothing was eternal. Everything, every power had weaknesses, and all powerhouses shared a common weakness: time. This war could be either the beginning of the end, or the first steps to an age of glory.

It had been 56 years since the Thornfield engaged in a large-scale conflict like this. And...only fate would tell us whether it was the last time they did, or instead, an insgnificant war among hundreds.